Washington (CNN) – As the GOP aggressively tries to appeal to more black voters, the chairman of the Republican National Committee argued Tuesday that Republican candidates and elected officials "need to get out there" and "go to places they haven't been in far too long."

"Why? Because the first step is showing up," Reince Priebus said Tuesday at an awards ceremony for black Republicans at the famous Howard Theatre in Washington, D.C.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – The Republican National Committee gave near-unanimous approval Friday to a package of rules changes that would condense the 2016 presidential nominating calendar and help the party avoid the kind of protracted party infighting that dented GOP nominee Mitt Romney's general election appeal in 2012.

The changes dovetail with the party's desire to move the convention from late summer to a June window, which would make the next Republican National Convention the earliest convention in either party since 1948. The RNC has announced its support for the June move but will formally vote on the change at a later date.

Washington (CNN) – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus says New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie should remain in his job as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, pushing back on a call from Virginia’s losing GOP gubernatorial candidate for Christie to step down.

“No, not at all,” Preibus told CNN in response to whether he agrees with Ken Cuccinelli’s demand that Christie quit the RGA.

(CNN) – While some Republicans are taking a wait-and-see approach on the question of whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about the now-famous plot to close access lanes to the nation’s busiest bridge, the chairman of the Republican National Committee said Sunday he doubts investigators will find any direct link between Christie and the politically motivated scheme.

“I don't think there will be one,” Reince Priebus said. “Because I think we've got a really smart person in Chris Christie, who's a former U.S. attorney, who understands what's out there.”FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – The Republican National Committee is offering the United States government a check to pay for guards at the National World War II Memorial, chairman Reince Priebus announced Wednesday.

"We're willing to pay the bill," said Priebus, who was speaking to reporters as he stood in front of a fence at the memorial.FULL POST

(CNN) – Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Sunday that his organization’s planned debate boycott was focused on NBC and CNN – which plan to air films about Hillary Clinton – and not companies which may produce those projects.

Priebus, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” was responding to a question from Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley about a report in The New York Times that Fox Television Studios was in the “early stages” of talks to produce NBC’s miniseries about Clinton, set to star Diane Lane. Fox Television Studios is a corporate sibling of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcast network.FULL POST

(CNN) – The Republican divide over whether to shut down the federal government in a bid to end President Barack Obama's health care law is merely a tactical split, rather than a larger ideological rift, the party's national chairman said Sunday.

Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," said he wasn't picking a side on the issue, which has pitted establishment party members against their younger colleagues.FULL POST

Washington (CNN) – A few days after President Barack Obama announced his proposed "grand bargain" to spur economic growth, Republicans remain unimpressed with the United States economy, reacting harshly to the new jobs report for July.

According to the Labor Department, the economy added 162,000 jobs last month, lowering the unemployment rate from 7.6% in June to 7.4% in July. The numbers are less than the 180,000 jobs that economists had originally anticipated for the month.FULL POST

After Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus announced a "50 state strategy" last week that will deploy paid field staffers in every state in a push to rebuild the GOP's stale voter contact operation, Steele, the party's former chairman, said he "had to laugh."FULL POST